1. Ask to see real code
A portfolio of screenshots tells you little about a backend. Look for public repositories or detailed case studies. Read how the code is organised, whether there are tests, and whether the README explains the design decisions. If client work is private, a good developer can still describe the problem and approach without revealing anything confidential.
2. Check for tests
Tests are the cheapest signal of care. A developer who writes feature tests for money, permissions and validation will usually produce fewer surprises after launch. Ask how they test and what they consider essential to cover.
3. Look for experience with your type of problem
Laravel covers a lot of ground. Payment integrations, subscriptions and billing logic, multi-role permissions, REST APIs for mobile apps and heavy reporting all call for different instincts. Ask for an example close to what you need and how they handled the tricky part.
4. Ask about security basics
- How do they validate input and authorize access to each record?
- How do they store secrets and avoid committing them to the repository?
- How do they handle passwords, tokens and webhook signatures?
You are not looking for a lecture. You are looking for specific, confident answers.
5. Judge communication early
The first few messages predict the whole project. Good signs are clarifying questions, plain language, and honest notes about risks or unknowns. Be cautious about instant, unqualified promises on timeline and price before anyone has understood the scope.
6. Agree on scope and milestones
Break the work into milestones you can review, each with a clear outcome. Agree what is included, what counts as a change, and how you will communicate. Small, frequent deliveries expose misunderstandings while they are still cheap to fix.
7. Make sure you own the result
Settle before work starts that the code lives in a repository you control, that deployment and access details are documented, and that you can hand the project to someone else later. Good work should never lock you in.
8. Plan for after launch
Software needs maintenance: updates, monitoring and the occasional production issue. Ask how fixes and ongoing support are handled so you are not searching for help in the middle of an incident.
Working with me
I am a freelance Laravel and PHP developer based in Karachi, working remotely with clients worldwide. You can see my case studies and open-source code, read about Laravel development, or send me a short description of your project and I will reply by email.
Original article written by Saad Ali Khan. Code samples are illustrative and free to adapt in your own projects.